February 12, 2018

fromTheFreeThoughtProject:A judge has ruled that the practice of state forensics labs receiving financial compensation for positive tests that lead to DUI convictions is unconstitutional. Police State AmericaThe Government is Not Us

September 19, 2017

from The Conversation: Civil asset forfeiture laws let authorities, such as federal marshals or local sheriffs, seize property – cash, a house, a car, a cellphone – that they suspect is involved in criminal activity.Police State America

from Capitalism Magazine: Very often bad ideas do not die. They simply reappear during periods of supposed social and political crisis in slightly different intellectual garb.Economic Policy: Statism vs The Free Market

How you should think about gold. Gold’s main use, contrary to the belief of some, isn’t in jewelry or dentistry—although those uses are important. Its main use has almost always been as money. But gold’s ancillary uses are growing in importance because, given its physical characteristics, it’s a high-tech metal. It’s one of the most resistant to chemical reaction, one of the most ductile, the most malleable ... MORE

by Ed Krayewski. The "Panama Papers" are the largest leak in world history, revealing millions of documents related to the offshore accounts of politicians, former politicians, and billionaires around the world. Despite much of the media's focus on tax evasion as the primary theme of the Panama Papers story, which embarrassed governments are ... MORE

Government monitoring can be complete. The health food chain Tossed has just opened the UK’s first cashless cafe. It’s another step towards the death of cash. This is nothing new. Money is tech. The casting of coins made shells, whales’ teeth and other such primitive forms of money redundant. The printing press did the same for precious ... MORE

by Mark Nestmann.Don't lose your life savings. It’s bad enough depositing your money into a bank account and earning essentially zero interest on it, or in some countries, having a negative interest rate. It’s even worse knowing that once you deposit your money in a bank, it’s not really yours anymore. You have turned over your property to ... MORE

Tehran gets more cash while its U.S. victims get nothing. Ali Khamenei congratulated Iran’s diplomats on Tuesday for making the “front of arrogance and bullying”—that would be the U.S.—retreat. Iran’s Supreme Leader has good reason to be happy. Having preserved the core of his nuclear capabilities, his regime is now on the receiving ... MORE

by Louise Story. Mission creep at Homeland Security. Concerned about illicit money flowing into luxury real estate, the Treasury Department said Wednesday that it would begin identifying and tracking secret buyers of high-end properties. The initiative will start in two of the nation’s major destinations for global wealth: Manhattan
and Miami-Dade ... MORE

by Marcus Leroux. The start of this year has been the worst for financial markets since the onset of the Great Depression, with stock prices slumping around the world amid mounting concern over the situation in China. A wave of selling has swept the world’s leading financial centres over the past two weeks, with the value of Britain’s ... MORE

Big government paradise. Among the endangered species in Sweden are the gray wolf, European otter—and cash. Back in June, I shared with you the story of how, in 1661, the Scandinavian monarchy became the first country in the world to issue paper money. (It was an unmitigated disaster, by the way.) Now it might be the first to ban it altogether. ... MORE

Most college students do not belong in college. I am not by myself in this assessment. Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson said, "It's time to drop the college-for-all crusade," adding that "the college-for-all crusade has outlived its usefulness." Richard Vedder, professor emeritus of economics at Ohio University, reports that ... MORE

A bank may not be the best place for your money. Since the financial crisis, the world's understanding of economics has been undergoing a lot of rapid change. Ideas that would have been considered crazy just a decade ago are now seen as much more likely. One of those ideas is that central banks could bring in negative interest rates. ... MORE

He predicted Europe's current problems 17 years ago. Among the general public, Milton Friedman is mostly remembered for the libertarian views outlined on his PBS show Free to Choose. Among economists, he is best known for his monetarist position on Fed policy. What's less well known is that he was also a soothsayer, ... MORE